BOSNIA: REFUGEES RETURN TO THEIR VILLAGES скачать в хорошем качестве

BOSNIA: REFUGEES RETURN TO THEIR VILLAGES

(7 Jan 1996) Serbo-Croat/Nat Refugees are beginning to filter back to their villages in Bosnia to claim back their homes under the terms of the Dayton agreement. Many find their houses have been wrecked, often they've changed hands several times throughout the war. The daunting task of rebuilding their homes and lives begins. But it isn't all a hard luck story. Kadro Halep was the commander of Bosnian government troops around his war-ravaged village of Vosnjak in Central Bosnia. He came home to find his house in the middle of what used to be the front line, surrounded by trenches and minefields. Bosnian Serb soldiers, commanded by his former neighbour Radovan Slavnic, had used Halep's home as a gymnasium and bunker during more than three years of war. For the last few days, Halep has spent most of his time gingerly removing deadly mines from what used to be his garden. SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat) "It's true my house is in a minefield, but it's the most beautiful and best thing... to be at home," SUPERCAPTION: (Serbo-Croat) Kadro Halep The village, however, is far from beautiful. It's a wreck. In his brother's burned-out garage, he found a painting of a Serb nationalist Chetnik slaughtering a Muslim. But Halep is determined to stay, and he and his son are looking forward to returning to hunting and raising dogs. One of a new litter born in peacetime gets special attention from the army commander. It isn't unusual for refugees returning to their villages throughout Bosnia to find homes and roads wrecked. The conference spawned an estimated 1.2 million refugees and under the terms of the Dayton accord, they can now go back, or claim compensation for property lost. But one Muslim couple who returned to their home in Torlakovac were pleasantly surprised. Hamida Purivatra and her husband carpenter Fikret had fled their home while it was still under construction. They had dreaded returning, fearing it would be looted and burned. But instead the new occupant, a handy Serb carpenter, had finished the house with a shell of bricks, a roof, windows and doors. SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat) "When we left the house, it was just a shell, no windows, no doors. When we came back, there were four walls and a new roof!". SUPERCAPTION: Hamida Purivatra The Serb carpenter had fled when Muslim-Croat troops took back the village, and he left his machinery behind. Hamida hopes that maybe her son, a wounded Bosnian government soldier, might now take up joinery. The family's previous house had been torched and looted by Serb soldiers. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...